Month: October 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Players are getting on the team bus from the practice rink to the airport for a flight scheduled to take off in 90 minutes.

Mine is an hour after that, so I’m hanging around to bang out one more posting for the road.

Relatively uneventful practice today, only thing worthy of note is that Antti Niemi and Michal Handzus stayed off the ice for a “maintenance day,” according to Todd McLellan.

Expect them both back on the ice when the Sharks practice Thursday afternoon at the Joe Louis Arena.

Talked to a few players today about that penalty kill last night when Brent Burns broke his stick while the Sharks were short-handed, effectively making it a 5-on-3.5 for the Predators.

As always happens, a forward handed his stick to the defenseman, just like the defenseman would have handed his stick to Niemi if it was the goalie without one. The idea, of course, is to make sure the player closest to the net is fully armed.

“If I’m up top, it’s better I don’t have the stick,” Handzus explained. “Our bench was real close, so I was hoping at one point I can get there and get my stick, but there was no chance.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More in the morning as there is music out in the streets and elsewhere.

But before I take advantage of a final night here before three in Detroit, a quick posting on that penalty to Ryane Clowe that ended up jeopardizing the Sharks’ 3-1 victory over the Predators here tonight.

Here’s the account from a very unhappy Clowe who was very glad that Pavelski’s goal helped bail him out.

“It was a brutal call. The guy runs across the ice. . . . It’s Cooch there. I lost the call. I dropped a glove but I didn’t do anything. I didn’t punch him, I didn’t think I shoved him. I picked up my gloves again and got two minutes.

“It’s frustrating that they go on and score and that guy gets rewarded for that,” he said. “A joke.”

Mitchell did say he felt better on the ice and tested his upper body soreness with some battle drills.

“Definitely a good shot for Friday,” he said.

*****Tonight’s game is a study in extremes when it comes to shots for and shots against. The Sharks lead the NHL in both categories (38.8 for, 25.3 against) while the Predators are the league’s worst in both (22.1 for, 33.9 against).

So I asked Todd McLellan which of his team’s numbers he liked the best.

“The difference between the two is the one I look at,” he responded. Point well made.

“We’ll probably decide that in the morning,” Todd McLellan said after an hour-long skating session. “He practiced better than I thought he would, which is a good sign. Obviously if he can play and be effective and remain healthy, we’ll certainly use him, but we’ll decide that in the morning.”

Mitchell skated with the team, but there wasn’t much contact that would test his “upper body soreness” stemming from an awkward fall into the boards in the opening minute of San Jose’s 3-2 shootout victory over New Jersey on Friday night.

And he didn’t flash his usual speed on one race around the rink, finishing last among the third and fourth line forwards.

“It felt really good, pretty much back to normal. We’ll see how it feels in the morning,” he said. “Still a little bit sore, but happy where I feel right now, considering.”

McLellan acknowledged that he would have a difficult decision to make if Mitchell plays. Benn Ferriero replaced him in the lineup, then scored the game-winner against Boston — though of course McLellan has other several other options as well.

*****Justin Braun and Jason Demers obviously look at Saturday’s lineup against the Boston Bruns with different emotions.

NEW YORK CITY – You try finding a direct flight from Boston to Nashville.

But at least this relatively short layover at JFK gives me a chance to hammer out a blog posting. See, I use trips to Boston to get in a little ‘me’ time with family as that’s where my sister ended up settling down decades ago and it’s always great to see her and the brood.

So when the Sharks unexpectedly canceled practice today – Todd McLellan told me late last night he’d have everybody at the rink, but plans and strategies do change – I used that as an opportunity to both stretch my legs wandering around the North End and to enjoy a nice, leisurely brunch for seven adults and the grand-nephew, age 10 months.

After all, post-game comments were reflected in the game story available in the print edition and online. While there’s always more material to mine – and, yes, I’ll get to that right now after this long-winded intro – I had other priorities.

McLellan’s initial reaction to the game looked at it as a role reversal of things that were going wrong for the Sharks in their three discouraging losses.

“I reflect back on the five games that we have played this season because the tables were turned,” he said. “I thought there were a lot of opportunities in those five games for us to put pressure on the other team and we didn’t find a way to win them. Tonight we found a way when the other team fore-checked very hard. That is the best fore-checking team that we have played against.”

Coming: Justin Braun from Worcester. Look for him to be in the lineup tonight and I’m thinking it’ll be Jason Demers as a scratch.

Going: Tommy Wingels to Worcester.

Injury update: Torrey Mitchell is dealing with some upper body soreness, but the problem is short-term. He won’t play tonight, but could be in the lineup Tuesday in Nashville.

Back to Braun and listen to what Todd McLellan had to say about the situation this morning.

“We really liked Justin Braun’s training camp,” the coach said. “He was sent down basically due to numbers, not his performance. There’s a couple D-men who have struggled, in our opinion, the first few games and we’ll make some changes to give him the opportunity to win a job.”

McLellan didn’t name names. But because Braun fulfills a similar role as Demers, my guess is that’s the D-man he replaces. And I wouldn’t be shocked if Jim Vandermeer is in for Colin White, who also fits McLellan’s description at times. Besides Braun and Vandermeer were paired throughout the exhibition season, so there is familiarity.

Now back to Mitchell and here’s what he has to say about the play that saw him elbowed in the head by Devils forward Nick Palmieri, then crash awkwardly into the boards, shoulder-first.

Back at the airport hotel, positioned for flight to Boston in the morning. I’ve got to get on the shuttle bus in less than five hours, fading, but wanted to knock out a quick posting.

Print edition story is available now via link at right, so you can see there how players and Todd McLellan reacted to the pretty unlikely 4-3 shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Unlikely, of course, only because of the way things started out.

Anyway, did want to say there was no post-game information on Torrey Mitchell’s injury so we’re left with the “upper body” vagueness that would seem to indicate shoulder or clavicle rather than the left wrist he seemed to be clutching as he left the ice. But who knows?

Will try to find that out tomorrow morning at an optional skate, but let’s just say now Mitchell is questionable for tomorrow night’s game. That’d be a safe stance.

Anyway, before I fade to black completely, here are a few cutting-room-floor quotes from Todd McLellan, who was pretty reserved afterward for a coach whose team had won a game in which it never held the lead until the second half of the third round of a shootout.

“It should be getting a win and playing properly for a full 60 minutes,” he said. “We’ve played well in a lot of the games, but not for a full 60. We’ve made some errors that have cost us. It’s been on our tape and on their tape and into the net so we have to clean that up a little bit. I’d like to see us get a little more determined around the opposition’s net. With the amount of opportunities we’ve created, not many have come on second or third chances.”

Here are the lines McLellan plans to use to accomplish all that (and there won’t be any surprises in the defense pairings with White a sure thing).

“Obviously one of the best teams in the league and not where they want to be, which tells you there’s going to be desperation in their game tonight, which makes them very dangerous,” he said. “We have to be prepared for that.”

McLellan said that four games into a season isn’t too soon for desperation, but then indicated that wasn’t just because his team was 1-3.

Delayed flight so still en route to Newark. But, once again, the joy of WiFi.

And Slingbox, I should add, watching World Series, Game 2 as I hit the keyboard.

One more factoid on Joe Thornton hitting the 1,000-game mark Friday night against New Jersey, then a look at what Thornton and Todd McLellan have to say about the milestone.

Thornton and defensemen Hal Gill broke in as rookies with the Bruins in 1997 – and reached the milestone 24 hours apart as Gill, now with Montreal, reaches the mark tonight. What’re the odds?

Joe wasn’t making big deal of this – no surprise, of course – but McLellan did gush a bit on the significance of hitting that number:

“It’s a really special milestone in any player’s career,” McLellan said. “It shows that you have the talent to play for that amount of time, you’ve been able to keep your game elite, you probably started at a very young age and you’ve taken care of yourself, remained healthy and contributed. I think it’s a remarkable milestone.”

I asked him about how his relationship with Thornton had evolved now that they’re in their fourth season together.

UPDATE: Sharks confirm that Marty Havlat has been given clearance to play and will be in the lineup Friday night.
END UPDATE

Somewhere in the skies over Arizona (or is that New Mexico already?) en route to Dallas en route to Newark.

Lucked into a WiFi flight, so I can pass along this news from Dan Rosen of NHL.com (among others) that Marty Havlat is one of six forwards on the top two lines practicing at the Prudential Center today.

That’s a pretty clear indication he was given the green light to play and could/should be in the lineup Friday against the Devils, but nothing to that effect from the Sharks yet.

Also, multiple sources in New Jersey reporting that Benn Ferriero has been recalled, so there are a couple potential lineup changes for tomorrow night as Todd McLellan looks for the right combinations to get his team back on track.